Resolution
by brookemopolitan
Summary: "Daddy's little girl", "spoilt brat", "the smart one", "freeloader"... Any one of these words might describe Alexis Harper Castle... But who is she underneath all of that? An Alexis centric fic about growing up and finding out who you are under the labels
1. Chapter 1

**Like many of you... I'm frustrated with Alexis right now. From what I can see, she's acting out and I want to know why. After a lovely chat with the amazing trytryagain357 on twitter, she's given me some delicious insights into why Alexis might be behaving the way that she is. With that little kick in the pants, this fic was born.**

**I don't really want to blame Alexis, or shame her for acting out... she's a teenager, FFS. I would like to maybe provide some justification or reasoning for her behaviour. Every other character (perhaps with the exception of Martha) on the show is deliciously flawed... but I find Alexis in particular to be very black and white. She's either Castle's perfect daughter or she's the most heinous spoilt brat on the face of the earth. I find the polarising of Alexis's character really boring. Everybody else gets to have shades of grey, so why can't she? That's what I'm most interested in playing with in this fic. If you're looking for blind hate, you won't get it here.**

**I was also really strongly inspired by an Australian Indie artist named Matt Corby, particularly his song called Resolution (how creative am I, guise?)... check him out on YouTube.**

_**Control your fear. It's clear  
That you do not know where you're going to  
****So, don't you worry****  
You'll be my resolution**_

**Resolution, Matt Corby**

* * *

Alexis sighed. Her life was a disaster. She rolled over, ignoring the scrape of her airbed against the floor and stared at the wall of the dorm room she was currently crashing in, the soft crooning of a bearded Indie singer playing in the background.

She hated that people really thought she'd been stupid enough to be sucked in by Pi. She wasn't an idiot. She knew that he hung out with Mary Jane on occasion (hell, she'd joined him once or twice) and she was also aware that she'd been his ticket to a trip through customs without a second glance. She was no stranger to any of that information. The reality was that Pi was cute, and he made the empty and broken pieces of her feel not so empty and broken. The fact that he happened to drive her father insane was just an added bonus.

She couldn't even bring herself to feel bad about that. She wanted her dad to be happy- but where the hell did he get off buying apartments in other cities and making marriage proposals without even giving her a heads up? They'd been a team since she was five years old. Now he was abandoning her for some hot young thing in stupidly high heels and a bulletproof vest.

They'd barely spoken since Alexis had moved into a shoebox apartment in the asscrack of Brooklyn. She desperately wanted to call her Daddy and tell him all about busting Pi in the shower with not one, but two other women and the shocking realisation that they hadn't been quite as exclusive as she'd imagined. But she wouldn't. She was far too stubborn. She was just grateful that she hadn't completely burned her bridges at Columbia. Student housing was full, so she was bouncing from dorm to dorm until she could figure out a more permanent solution.

The only catch was, she never knew when somebody was going to wander in.

She hated the quiet. When it was quiet, there was way too much time to imagine footsteps creeping down the hallways, chloroform soaked cloth in hand. But staying in someone else's room meant never knowing when the cocoon of a locked door and distracting music would be disrupted.

She damn near had a heart attack when the door swung open.

"Oh my god! Alli, come on!" Peg was one of Alexis's classmates. Alexis couldn't say she had a particular amount of fondness for the Ohio native, but she also couldn't turn down a place to sleep. "It is Saturday night and you live in New York City. You are not wasting it lying in bed listening to boring hipster music."

Alexis sighed. Excuses that stemmed from the incident in February were useless; that sympathy had long since dried up.

"It is time to accept that Pi was a dick," Peg wrinkled her nose. "The fruitarian thing was super pretentious and he smelled." Peg shrugged. "I'm not just talking about the weed. Deodorant is like, a public service."

"Peg," Alexis interjected, attempting to find a polite way to fend off whatever idea she had in her head.

"Alexis, you dodged a bullet. Don't sit around moping about it. Get back on the horse and find somebody to clear the pipes."

"Clear the pipes?" Alexis echoed, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not saying that you have to marry the guy," Peg drawled. "Just get Pi out of your system."

Alexis wanted to scream. Insist that Pi was the least of her worries and she didn't give a damn that Mr Right Now hadn't worked out. She weighed up what was worse. A night alone in somebody else's room, or a night in a crowd.

"There's a frat part tonight. _Please_ don't make me go alone," Peg complained.

Alexis sighed and faked a smile. "Pick me an outfit, then."

* * *

Alexis tugged at the neckline of her shirt. She felt like everything was going to come spilling out for the world to see, but Peg had insisted that she looked like "dessert" and that she _had_ to wear it. The few shots of Bacardi Alexis had thrown back as they were getting ready needed to kick in, fast.

A cup of cheap beer got shoved into Alexis's hands. She wrinkled her nose. Warm beer was just about the worst thing ever.

"Smile," Peg hissed in her ear. "Nobody wants to fuck Debbie Downer."

"I don't even want to be here," Alexis growled in reply. The party was a lot bigger than she'd imagined it would be and the crowd was making her claustrophobia stand up and demand to be taken seriously.

"So drink until that changes or go home," Peg suggested like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm going to dance. Should I disappear halfway through the night, do _not_ come and find me," Peg called out, making a beeline for the dance floor full of sophomores.

Alexis spied the doorway that led to the balcony. That would be a good place to hide while still being considered present at the party.

She closed the door behind her. The whirr of noise from the party was good. It stopped her imagination from running wild. She poured the flat beer off the edge of the balcony.

"Yeah, I don't blame you for that," a voice called out.

"Hey Max," Alexis replied. She didn't know what his deal was. There had been so much flirting before her impromptu trip to Paris, but he'd backed right off upon her return.

"The crap they're calling alcohol should be considered a federal offense," Max griped, offering Alexis a flask from his pocket.

Alexis took a sip. Jack Daniels. A wry smile crept across her lips. She remembered JD being Max's favourite drink. A strange sense of warmth washed over her. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe.

Max was still as cute as she remembered. He also seemed like he wanted to be around her. "How's Amy?" Alexis asked, Dutch courage loosening her tongue enough to ask about Max's super blonde and super painful girlfriend.

"We broke up," he replied, taking back the flask. "She was high maintenance, to say the least. Who has time for that?" He took a swig from the flask, and handed it back to Alexis, his eyes flicking to her chest.

Alexis shot him a smile, twisting a flaming lock of hair around her finger. She quashed the annoyingly sensible part of her brain that reminded her of the very many reasons this was a _terrible_ idea. Being rational hadn't gotten Alexis anywhere in a hurry. Screw it. She was young. She should be allowed to sow her wild oats and live out a few stories she couldn't tell her kids.

Peg was right- Alexis had pipes that needed attending to ASAP. "You should kiss me," Alexis announced. "I've wanted you to kiss me for, like, a year now and you haven't. But you should."

Her monologue was cut off when Max shut her up by pressing his mouth against hers.

His kiss was everything Alexis imagined and more. His lips were soft, his tongue gentle as it melded with hers. Her back was pressed against the wall, her hands insistently exploring the muscles of his back through the cotton shirt he wore.

She tilted her head back so that her lips could brush against his ear, "You want to get out of here?"

* * *

There were so many reasons that this was a terrible idea. Alexis from a year ago never would have gotten herself into this situation.

But as clothes were tossed haphazardly across the floor of his dorm, flesh upon flesh, gentle words of lust whispered in her ear, reason was easy to ignore.

No matter how fleeting, this feeling was worth it.

* * *

It was only supposed to be a one-time thing. A way of clearing her head and making all the anxiety go away.

Despite all of that, Alexis found herself knocking on Max's door two days later.

It became their thing. No words exchanged- just the simple intimacy of not feeling so alone. They never talked about it. Alexis hated how weak she'd allowed herself to become; the nightmares and the feeling that somebody was about to sneak up on her was so much less immediate when there was somebody there to share her bed.

"What exactly is this?" Max whispered in her ear one night, curling behind her after one of their trysts.

Alexis shrugged. "I don't know. Whatever you want it to be," she suggested.

"Alright," he agreed.

"Is that okay?"

"For now," Max decided. "One day soon it won't be though."

Alexis didn't like the sound of that. With a shudder, she curled closer to Max. She'd simply have to enjoy it while it lasted.

* * *

God, she was like every stupid cliché that ever existed. She'd gone to a drugstore across town, hoodie pulled over her head. She'd blushed scarlet to the roots of her hair at the counter under the weight of the attendant's disapproving stare.

She was hidden way in a McDonald's bathroom, waiting to see if her suspicions would be confirmed. Since when had four minutes taken so long?

Her phone beeped. There it was. Solid confirmation that couldn't be denied.

Alexis Harper Castle was pregnant.

And she didn't know what the hell to do.

* * *

**So umm... yeah.**

Thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for your lovely words about chapter one... I would point out that it's okay to be a little frustrated by Alexis at this point- she's being a little dislikable on purpose (I have a plan, y'all). Keep in mind also that she underwent a huge trauma when she went to Paris, and I firmly believe that said trauma will have had an impact on her mindset (don't judge people who are mentally unhealthy for the impacts that their poor mental health has on their thinking). **

**Also, I realised I was horribly remiss in not thanking the amazing Jo (honeyandvodka) for beta-ing the first chapter as well as this one... so thank you, my dearest. Thank you also to the facebook girls... you know who you are. I less than three you!**

* * *

She wandered the city for hours. Riding the subway, numbly trudging the busy streets of New York City. Despite her aimless meandering, she'd managed to navigate herself to the same place three times. She stared at the doorway to the building, deliberating whether or not to walk through.

Maybe it was a sign. She knew she hadn't handled her move out of home well and she knew that she'd hurt her dad immeasurably as a result. She hadn't exactly been overjoyed when she'd gone home for dinner for the first time since the move and spotted boxes labelled "Kate's shoes" stacked in the living room, but in light of her swirling emotions, she wasn't sure that her reaction was quite justified.

She'd wanted to hurt her dad as badly as she was hurting. Now she was fairly sure she'd cut off her nose to spite her face.

She'd accused him of leaving her behind when Kate moved in. So she'd stopped contacting him at all in retaliation- proving that she could leave him behind just as easily as he had her. Now she was alone.

Thunder boomed. She needed to make a decision, fast. The air was thick with the smell of a brewing storm. A New York City thunderstorm was a sight to behold-but not when you were stuck outside during one. The subways would clog with passengers, people short tempered and mean as a result of the rain. If she was going to go back to Columbia, she needed to do it now.

More than any of that, though, she missed her dad. It had been the two of them against the world since kindergarten. She'd never gone so long without talking to him.

At first, he'd been furious with her after their argument. The insults she had slung about Kate had led to the kind of stone cold rage usually reserved only for her mother. It had taken a week for the ice to melt- and since then he had sent her regular texts, leaving messages on her voicemail, requesting her to contact him and reminding her that no matter what happened between them, he loved her more than he'd loved anything or anyone.

When the messages had started, she'd scoffed, refusing to believe that her father could actually care about anybody but his fiancé. Now she desperately hoped that his words were still true.

She rode the elevator in silence, shivering despite the thick Columbia hoodie she wore. Slipping her key into the door, she sent up a desperate prayer to anybody who might be listening that Kate and her grandmother were out of the loft.

The loft was blissfully quiet. She could see light emanating from the study, the soft tap-tap-tap of a keyboard the only noise to punctuate the silence.

Alexis gathered her courage and knocked against the doorframe. "Daddy," she called out.

* * *

She found herself locked securely in her father's familiar embrace. He'd pressed kisses against her forehead, mumbling that he loved her and that he was sorry for being so angry into her hair.

She'd found herself seated at the kitchen bench, listening to his relieved chatter as he prepared her scrambled eggs, stuffed with her favourite cheese and sliced vegetables (she'd gone through a phase as an eight year old where she refused to eat food that wasn't "colourful"… this brand of scrambled eggs was an enduring legacy of that period of time) that was slowly beginning to turn her stomach by the smell alone.

She forced herself to swallow a few mouthfuls. Her stomach churned in protest. She supposed that the truth of her visit would be coming out sooner than she imagined. She clamped a hand over her mouth before bolting to the bathroom, where she proceeded to throw up everything she'd managed to eat that day.

She scraped her sweaty hair off her face, turning to see her father leaning against the doorframe, a concerned look on his face. She knew she couldn't bullshit him and pass it off as a hangover. "I need you to promise you won't get mad," she prefaced, slumping against the bathtub.

Her father's silence spoke volumes. Perhaps she'd found the one thing he would consider unforgivable.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered. She was shocked at how hard he words hit her in the chest. It was the first time she'd spoken them out loud. It was real now and she felt the tears that had been threatening to fall since she'd peed on the damn stick begin to slip down her cheeks. She was so numb she couldn't even bring herself to be angry about the injustice of it all… she was anal retentive about taking her Pill on time- she had the alarm on her phone to prove it; and she knew Max had been careful as well. Why was she in the point three percent of women for whom contraception just didn't work?

She dared to look up at her father. He was completely still. "I don't know what to do," she confessed. "I just found out and I don't know what to do and I'm scared and I just needed somebody who loves me."

He still hadn't said a word. Hell, she didn't think he'd blinked.

She'd done it. She'd finally pushed him over the ledge. Any ties of love she had with her father had been cut with her revelation… surely he no longer wanted her. She forced herself to her feet. Alexis suddenly felt tremendously old, a wave of exhaustion overtaking her body. "I guess that wasn't the case," she muttered. "I'll go."

She was just about to push past him when he seized her by the arm and pulled her against his chest, his embrace so tight it was painful. "How dare you suggest I don't love you," he growled, pain evident in his voice. "Alexis, I am your father. There is nothing in this world that you can do to stop me loving you."

* * *

Richard Castle was no stranger to the strange and fanciful. Quite the opposite- he welcomed it. Strange and fanciful was what had taken him from a slightly pretentious English major to a New York Times Best Selling Author. He relished in strange and fanciful. But he'd been completely blindsided by this.

He hit call, pacing in his study as he waited for the other end to pick up. "I know you're out to dinner with Lanie," he began when Kate answered the phone. "But I'm going to be unfair and offload something on you."

Kate could hear the distress in her fiancé's voice. "Castle, is everything alright?" she asked hesitantly, mentally beginning to prepare an excuse to give to Lanie about why she couldn't stick around for post dinner drinks. "Do you need me to come home?"

"No," Castle insisted. "Stay out. It's just… Alexis came home today."

"Good," Kate interjected, the knot in her stomach lessening slightly. She knew how badly Alexis's silent treatment had been tearing him up and she hated that she was the cause of it. Perhaps this was a turning point… if Alexis had come home, surely that meant that she'd accepted that Kate wasn't the bad guy. And if she'd accepted that, maybe it meant that she would eventually accept Kate as stepmother 2.0.

"Yeah, well…" He paused. "She's pregnant."

Of all the things Castle could have told her, that had Kate floored. She could safely say that the bombshell Castle had just dropped on her was the last thing she expected to hear, pretty much ever. And if she had been shocked, she could only imagine what it was doing to Castle. "Are you okay?" She asked, concern threatening to choke her.

"I have no idea," he replied. He sounded completely lost. "She's upstairs, asleep in her old bed. I have no idea what to say to her." She could hear his foot tapping against the floor. "I called Meredith. She's flying in tomorrow."

"Alright," Kate replied. She was grateful for the warning that the loft was about to be overtaken by redheads. "What can I do?" She asked. She needed to _do_ something. Kate knew that she was only so good at offering a shoulder to cry on… she needed a task or something tangible to do to fix the situation.

He sighed heavily. "I don't think you can do anything," he replied. His voice cracked. "She won't tell me who the father is."

Kate's heart was breaking. She'd never heard him sound more lost. "We'll figure this out," she promised him.

"Sorry to ruin your night," he mumbled.

"No, Castle," Kate sighed, voice rich with compassion. "Thank you for letting me in. And for the warning."

He made a non-committal noise in response.

"I love you," she promised.

"Love you too," he replied, before ending the call.

Shock weighed heavily on Kate's chest. Alexis was pregnant. She didn't know what to think… but she did know she needed a drink.

* * *

**so... yes. Let's talk. I read and treasure every one of your reviews and my inbox also enjoys smilie faces (or any emoticon you feel prudent)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I have to say... I love where the writers have taken Alexis and Castle's relationship. I think it's very true to both their characters and realistic and it's original too :) four for you, writers.**

**Thank you all for your insightful comments. They mean the world to me.**

Thank you to Ky, for her brilliance and her beta work.

* * *

Kate walked back up the bar, where she found Lanie inspecting the Old Haunt's wine list. "I'm gonna need something stronger than that," Kate muttered. She gestured for a bottle of Grey Goose and pair of shot glasses. "We'll be taking it back to the table," she informed the bartender, whose name she couldn't recall.

"No problem," the bartender replied. "I'll put it on the boss's tab."

Kate managed a weak laugh before snatching up the bottle. She managed to pour and swallow a shot before Lanie had even sat down at their regular booth in the back.

"Girl, what the hell is going on?" Lanie asked. "Weren't you the one who suggested a quiet night?"

Kate poured another set of shots, pushing one towards Lanie. "Drink," she insisted.

Lanie frowned, but took a sip of the vodka regardless.

When she saw Kate pouring another round, she grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Uh-uh, Girl," she warned. "No more until you start talking."

"Remember when you decided to tease me about wedding planning and babies and I said I wanted to enjoy the engagement?"

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, if this is your way of announcing that the stork is visiting, I'll smack you."

"The stork _is_ visiting," Kate replied, twirling an empty shot glass between her fingers. "But not me."

Lanie raised an eyebrow.

"Alexis came home today," Kate filled Lanie in. "And she dropped that little bombshell on Castle. He called me, freaking out because his baby is pregnant."

Lanie picked up the bottle, wordlessly pouring Kate another shot.

Kate raised it in a silent salute and knocked it back without flinching. "Castle is a heartbeat away from a nervous breakdown," she raised an eyebrow. "Meredith is on her way."

"Oh good lord," Lanie muttered. "You don't seem to be taking the news much better," she commented delicately.

Kate huffed. "She's not my kid. And she's made it quite clear she has no interest in Evil Stepmother Number Two," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I was getting ready to tell him that I wanted a honeymoon baby."

"And you can't tell him that now?" Lanie asked.

"Only if I want to drive him to an early grave."

* * *

Kate slipped into bed, the faint smell of vodka clinging to her skin. She knew Castle was way too tense to be sleeping.

There were no words she could offer to comfort him.

She pressed her face into the skin of his neck, hoping her presence could soothe him in any way possible.

"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do," Castle muttered. Kate didn't need to be a detective to realise that he was still completely shell-shocked, even hours later.

"There's nothing you can do," Kate mentioned. "Alexis has been making the fun kinds of grown up decisions for quite some time now. She needs to realise that she can't make the fun decisions without being faced with the scary ones too." She paused, chewing on her lip as she thought. "I know she's your baby, Castle. I know you want to wrap her up tight and protect her from the world's darkness and make sure nothing ever happens to her, but you can't. She needs to make the decision that she can live with; all by herself. All you can do is support her unconditionally, no matter which way she chooses."

Castle sighed, wrapping his arm around Kate and drawing her close. "I hate it when you make sense," he murmured against her hair. He knew Kate as right, but he'd never been good at detaching when it came to his daughter. From pouring baby shampoo into his own eyes to padding every hard surface in the loft with bubble wrap when Alexis had been learning to walk, he'd always done whatever he could to spare her pain. He couldn't spare her from this.

"Get used to it. You're hitching your wagon to it," She replied.

He pressed a kiss to her brow. "We all have our burdens to bear."

* * *

Kate slipped out of bed early, tiptoeing around as she took a quick shower and dressed for work, ignoring the dull throbbing between her temples. She was way too old for this hangover shit. She let out a mirthless chuckle as she layered banana slices over peanut butter smothered toast. Grandma Kate. It certainly had a ring to it.

"You're up early," Castle commented, his voice husky from sleep as he leaned against the counter. "Big case?" he asked.

Kate shrugged as she chewed. "Paperwork day," she replied.

"You're not being shoved out of your home because my ex-wife is coming to town," Castle declared.

"I'm certainly not," Kate replied. Castle spied her engagement ring proudly displayed on her finger. Interesting. "Castle, this is a family issue. And I'm not family."

"You're going to be," Castle interjected.

"But I'm not Alexis's family. I'm probably one of the reasons she went on this wild child streak to begin with. Trust me when I say you don't need me here to add fuel to the fire."

Castle took a sip of Kate's coffee as he sat down next to her. It was clear he'd barely slept. "Did you consider that maybe I want you here?"

Kate snagged her coffee cup back, leaning over to press several kisses against his stubbly cheek. "I'll have my phone with me all day," she promised. "I'll be out of there as quickly as I can be."

"Can't I just come with you?" He pouted.

Kate stood up and placed her plate and mug neatly in the dishwasher. She turned to pull Castle into an embrace. "I know that it feels like the world is ending right now," she murmured. "But you guys can get through this. Just be her dad who loves her, no matter what."

Kate felt Castle's arms tighten around her waist, his face buried into her hair. Kate clung to him just as tightly. She couldn't make his pain go away, no matter how hard she tried. Whether she walked out the door and went to work or stood where she was standing for the whole day, Alexis would still be pregnant. But pulling him closer and letting him bury his face in her curls as she hugged him hard enough to bruise? That could offer him a few moments of comfort… and just maybe; those few moments would be enough.

* * *

The fact that his characters had fallen silent was very, very worrying.

He was rarely without the whispers of Nikki and Rook. They only ceased tempting him with their words when his stress levels pushed him to the breaking point. Listening to his daughter dry retch with morning sickness? That pushed him to the end of his tether.

Alexis made her way into the kitchen, face deathly pale and clammy. She rummaged through the pantry, withdrawing a packet of Saltines. She broke one into bite-sized pieces before beginning to snack on one, still slightly green around the gills.

"Your mom is flying out. She lands this afternoon," Castle informed Alexis.

Her head snapped up. "Did you tell her?" She demanded.

"Oh no," Castle replied. "You get to have that conversation all by yourself." He knew it would be far easier on Alexis if he told Meredith for her, but Beckett was right. If Alexis wanted to be an adult, she had to be an adult all of the time and not just when it was convenient. "I'll be there if you want me to be, but I won't be telling her on your behalf."

Alexis gave him a meek little nod. She checked her watch. "Crap! I'm going to be late for work," she cursed.

"You're still going in?" Castle asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Dad, if I don't work, I don't eat. I have to go to work."

Castle clamped down the urge to offer her money so that she would stay home. She was pregnant, not an invalid and Alexis seemed to have taken on the responsibility of providing for herself without complaint.

"Your Mom lands at three. Will you be at work for longer than that?" He asked instead, proud that he'd been mature enough not to just throw money at the situation.

"I should finish around 3.30," she replied. "I'm guessing that she's not staying here, so that's long enough for her to get settled in a hotel?" At her father's nod, she brushed a kiss on his cheek. "I really do have to go," she told him. "But I'll be back, I promise."

Castle stared at the door for a long time after she left. The characters were still silent. Just another thing to add to the list of things he didn't know what the fuck to do about.

* * *

**So...?**

**Emoticons in the box are awesome. Just sayin, that if you liked it and you can't think of anything to say, that would be something :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**I love your reviews, guys. I love hearing where you think this will go... and I especially love giggling when I know I'm going totally left field. Mwahahahahahaha. I totally stand by all the decisions I've made in this chapter.**

**Thank you, Berkie, for your beta work and for reacting EXACTLY how I hope people will**

* * *

Kate arrived back home early. The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that sitting in Castle's office, filling out paperwork for case solve rate statistics made sense. She was barely able to focus at the precinct, constantly sneaking peeks into her top drawer to check her phone. She knew Castle was absolutely beside himself and she was waiting for the moment that he finally crumbled, unable to hold himself together any longer. He'd patched her back up so many times when the weight of the world had become too much, it was high time she did the same for him. Despite her lofty words about not being family, she was Castle's partner. She needed to be there for him.

She marched right into Gates' office, explaining that she had pressing personal issues and that she needed to work from home. Kate had expected Gates to fight her on it. She was sure that her boss would wrinkle her nose and flatly refuse. Kate was had only just been allowed back on her homicide squad; she knew she was taking a massive gamble by asking for favours so early in the piece, but she didn't care. She refused to allow her job to consume her as it once had and with that resolution, she knew where she needed to be.

Gates had taken one look at her and gave her a wordless nod of understanding. Kate stood stock still in her boss's office. Was that how simple it was? Gates reminded her to keep her phone with her should a body drop before returning to the statistic comparisons she was doing on her computer. Kate decided it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth and strode back to her desk, grabbing her stack of files before making an excuse for the boys and high tailing out before Gates could call her back.

* * *

"You didn't have to leave work for me," Castle reminded her for the umpteenth time as he brought her a mid afternoon cup of coffee.

Kate shot him a smile, squeezing the fingers of his free hand. "I know I didn't have to," she responded, as she had each time he'd told her. "Besides, it was a quiet day and Ryan was getting weird with the doll he keeps in his drawer."

They both knew she was full of shit. She expected him to call her on it… but he'd been so grateful when she'd walked through the front door, armed with boxes of his favourite spicy Thai food that there was no way he would ever say a word. She ran her thumb across his knuckles. "Keeping your head above water?" She asked him.

"Just," he replied. "I thought she was smarter than this."

Kate sighed. "Smarter than what?" She pulled him to sit down. "Just because she's clever doesn't mean she can't make an irrational decision. And being smart doesn't mean that her contraception can't fail. She's had a hell of a year. She's doing what she can to cope, however she can."

Castle studied Kate's face. "Are you suggesting she's depressed?" He asked.

"I would be astounded if she had perfect mental health with everything that happened in Paris," Kate replied. "And I say that as a person who is completely at peace with the fact that she's a slight head case." She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood slightly. "The thing that I do know for certain is that this is not your fault, Castle."

His face darkened. "How can it not be? I should have stopped her."

"What exactly were you going to stop her from doing, Castle? She's an adult who is perfectly entitled to express her sexuality. You can't lock her in an ivory tower until Prince Charming comes along."

"I shouldn't have let her move out," he muttered. "You know she's been bouncing from dorm room to dorm room for months?"

"Stopping her from moving out wouldn't have helped. I'm telling you, she is fixing the hurt however she can and she's taking the opportunity to test her mortality. Trust me on this," she squeezed his hands. "I have been there. The rush of surviving the risk that you've taken makes you feel alive."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't seem like she's survived the risk," he muttered.

"She's still alive, isn't she?" Kate asked. She watched Castle's face for a hint that her words were sinking in. She had him. "We're going to figure this out, Castle. I promise." Her promises, inadequate as they were, were all that she had to offer him. The only other thing she could offer was her touch, so she reached forward and pulled him into her embrace.

* * *

Kate rolled her eyes. Of course Meredith had ignored Castle's suggestion that she should find a hotel to stay at. She'd appeared on their doorstep, clothed in a perfectly pressed silk wrap dress (how had she managed to stay so well put together on a three hour flight?), her bags in tow. Just another cherry to add to the top of the sundae.

Kate shot Meredith a close-mouthed smile. In hindsight, she was slightly disgusted with how easily she'd let ex-wife number one play her. She wasn't about to let that happen again. Castle absentmindedly ran his hand over her shoulder as he walked out of the room, phone in hand as he "called Paula" (started making phone calls to find Meredith a place to stay that was not the spare bedroom of his loft).

"So," Meredith leaned over conspiratorially. Kate could already smell the air of superiority on her. "How goes your pamphlet writing?"

Kate shrugged. She wasn't going to expose how little she thought of this woman. "In my experience, I've always found that you learn the most when you listen for answers and not just ask questions. I'm sure I could manage at least a novella," she took a sip out of a bottle of water, certain to hold it in her left hand. She heard the rattle of the front door. Kate stood up. "Sounds like Alexis is home," she mentioned. "I'll leave the two of you to catch up."

Kate strutted away to the study, shameless in leaving the door open just a crack.

Castle turned to her, his hair in disarray. "I found her a hotel," he informed Kate. "Getting her there is going to be the fun part."

Kate cleared her throat. "Yeah, well… Alexis just got back," she announced.

"I should go out there, shouldn't I?" He asked.

Kate shrugged. "Let her do this on her own," she suggested. "Just be ready to intervene if you have to."

He nodded, tugging on Kate's arm to bring her over to the couch near the door. Thanks to the open plan loft of the house, they could hear the conversation perfectly.

"So, your Dad said you have something to tell me. You're not engaged to one of those One Direction boys, are you?" Meredith asked.

Alexis cleared her throat. "Nothing like that," she murmured. Any idiot could tell that she was shitting bricks. "Mommy, I did a thing…"

"What kind of thing?" Meredith asked. "You didn't get arrested, did you? Alexis, I told you, hanging out with those save the planet losers wasn't going to get you anywhere in a hurry…"

"I'm pregnant," Alexis blurted out.

Kate studied Castle's face. He was pale, clearly terrified on behalf of his daughter for what was coming next.

"What?" Meredith demanded.

"You heard me," Alexis countered, her voice growing more confident. "I'm pregnant."

"No," Meredith muttered. "No, you're not."

"I peed on the stick, Mom. The two lines usually only mean one thing."

"No, Alexis," Meredith was getting over her shock quickly, her tone quickly becoming zealous. "This isn't happening. Go and get your things, we're taking care of this as soon as possible. I'll make calls from the cab."

Kate chanced another look at Castle. She'd assumed that flighty Meredith wouldn't have terribly much to say (hell, she was surprised that flighty Meredith had turned up at all) and judging by Castle's expression, he'd presumed the same.

"What do you mean, taking care of this?" Alexis asked.

"You know exactly what I mean. We can make this all go away and everything will go back to normal. It'll be like nothing ever happened."

"I haven't made any decisions about what I want to do…"

"You're not throwing your life away the way I threw away mine," Meredith interjected, her tone suddenly harsh. "You'll regret this, Alexis."

"Do you regret your decision?" Alexis asked, her voice very small.

"You have a whole bright future in front of you, Alexis. You're about to throw that down the drain for nothing. Don't make my mistakes."

That was it. Kate wasn't going to sit still any longer. She strode out into the living room. "Get out," she snapped at Meredith, her tone icy.

"Excuse me?" Meredith gasped.

"Do not play dumb with me," Kate answered, her tone perfectly measured. "Do not walk into my house and assume you can speak to anybody the way you're speaking now. Take your crap, and leave." Kate crossed her arms, perfectly content to stare Meredith down. For all her bluster and extravagant personality, it was clear who would win a battle of wills.

"Fine," Meredith snipped. "I'll go. But you know I'm right, Alexis. Don't let some man manipulate you into keeping something you don't want. It won't end well."

Kate stood in the centre of the room, completely prepared to go on the defensive again if need be as she watched Meredith storm out of the house. She knew that she didn't truly have a place in this crisis, but there was no way she could sit idly by when she heard Meredith's vitriol. She turned to Alexis. The poor girl was so pale she was almost translucent.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she muttered, jumping off the couch and running to the bathroom.

* * *

**Thoughts? (I'm uber excited for the next episode of Castle, just sayin')**


End file.
